I. National Level Awards

A. Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award

• Established: 1991-92 (Formerly Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award).
• Prize: ₹25 Lakh cash, certificate, medal, tie, and blazer.
• Criteria:
  • 80% Performance-based.
  • 20% Selection Committee's weightage.
• Proposals can be sent by:
  • Lok Sabha MP
  • MLA
  • Sports Authority of India
  • National Sports Federation
• Other points: Awarded once in a lifetime. Can be awarded posthumously.
• Selection Committee (12 members):
  1. Chairman (Nominated by Ministry of Sports)
  2. Sports Administrator
  3. Representative of Sports Ministry
  4. Director General, Sports Authority of India
  5. Four Eminent Sports Persons
  6. Three Sports Experts
  7. One Eminent Para-Sports Person
• Notable Winners:
  • First Winner: Vishwanathan Anand (1991)
  • First Woman Winner: Karnam Malleswari
  • Other Winners: Abhinav Bindra, Pankaj Advani, Sharath Kamal (2022), Satwik Sairaj & Chirag Shetty (Badminton, 2023).
• Rajasthan Specific Winners:
  • Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
  • Devendra Jhajharia
  • Mithali Raj
  • Avani Lekhara
  • Krishna Nagar
• Cricketers who won the Award
  • MS Dhoni
  • Rohit Sharma
  • Virat Kohli
  • Sachin Tendulkar
  • Mithali Raj
• Women who won the Award
  • Karnam Malleswari
  • PV Sindhu
  • Sakshi Malik
  • Deepak Karmakar
  • Avani Lekhara

B. Arjuna Award

• Established: 1961
• Prize: ₹15 Lakh, Bronze statue of Arjuna, commendation letter, blazer.
• Eligibility:
  • 4 years of consistent good performance.
  • Leadership qualities.
  • No restrictions by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) or NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency).
• Seven Award Categories:
  1. Olympics and Paralympics
  2. World Cup & World Championships
  3. Asian Games
  4. Commonwealth Games
  5. Cricket
  6. Indigenous/Local Games
  7. Para Sports
• Selection Committee (12 members):
  1. Chairman (Retired Judge)
  2. Sports Administrator
  3. Representative of Ministry of Sports
  4. Representative of Sports Authority of India
  5. Four Eminent Sports Persons
  6. Three Sports Experts
  7. One Eminent Para-Sports Person
• Notable Winners:
  • Early Winners: Dr. Karni Singh, Salim Durani, Nandu Natkar, Sarabjit Singh
  • 2022 Winners: Nikhat Zareen, Lakshya Sen, Om Prakash Mitharwal, Sushila Devi
  • 2023 Winners: Divya Kriti Singh, Mohammed Shami
• Rajasthan Winners:
  • Hanuman Singh (Basketball)
  • Krishna Poonia
  • Dr. Karni Singh
  • Apurvi Chandela
  • Devendra Jhajharia
  • Magan Singh Rajvi
  • Sunder Singh Gurjar
  • Salim Durani
  • Divya Keerti Singh (Nagaur)
  • Om Prakash Mitharwal (Rajasthan Police officer)

C. Dronacharya Award

• Purpose: Award for Coaches
• Awarded since: 1985
• Two Categories:
  • Lifetime Category
  • Regular Category
• Prize Money:
  • Lifetime Category: ₹15 Lakh
  • Regular Category: ₹10 Lakh
• Other: Idol of Guru Drona and a traditional dress.
• Eligibility:
  • Coach of a player who has won a medal in Olympics, Paralympics, World Cup, World Championships, Asian Games, or Commonwealth Games.
  • Coach of a player who set a World Record.
  • Raised standards of any Indigenous sport for 3 years.
• Selection Committee (10 members):
  1. Chairman (Nominated by Ministry of Sports)
  2. Sports Administrator
  3. Representative of Ministry/SAI
  4. Three Coaches (Previous Winners)
  5. Two Eminent Sports Persons
  6. Two Experts
• Notable Winners:
  • 1985 Winners: Balchandra Bhaskar, Om Nambiar, Om Prakash Bhardwaj
  • 2022 Regular Category: Jiwanjot Singh, Mohammad Ali Qamar, Sujeet Maan, Soma Siddharth Sirur
  • 2022 Lifetime Achievement: Dinesh Jawahar Lad (Cricket), Raj Singh (Wrestling), Bimal Prafull
• Rajasthan Winners:
  • Virender Poonia
  • Guru Hanuman
  • Shyam Sunder Rao
  • Anup Kumar
  • Ripudaman Singh (First coach to get award for training Para Sportsman)

D. Dhyan Chand Award

• Awarded since: 2002
• Given by: Ministry of Sports
• Prize: ₹10 Lakh, Statue of Major Dhyan Chand, Commendation Letter, Traditional Dress
• Eligibility: Sports person who has worked to promote sports even after retirement.
• Selection Committee (9 members):
  1. Chairman (Nominated by Sports Ministry)
  2. Sports Administrator
  3. Representative of SAI
  4. Four Eminent Players
  5. Two Experts
• Notable Winners (2022):
  • BC Suresh (Kabaddi)
  • Ashwini Akkunji (Athletics)
  • Dharambir Singh (Hockey)

E. Other National Awards

• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy:
  • For: Best Performing University in sports.
  • Since: 1956-57
  • Prize: 1st - ₹15 Lakh, 2nd - ₹7.5 Lakh, 3rd - ₹4.5 Lakh.
  • First Winner: Bombay University.
  • Most Wins: Guru Nanak Dev University (Amritsar, 24 times).
• Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award:
  • Related to: Mountain climbing and adventure.
  • Since: 1994 (Ministry of Sports).
  • Prize: ₹15 Lakh and an idol of Tenzing Norgay.
  • Categories: Water Adventure, Land Adventure
• National Sports Promotion Award:
  • For: PSUs, Private Companies, and NGOs.
  • Since: 2009
  • Categories (Example): Identification and Nurturing of Budding/Young Talent, Employment to sportspersons.

II. State Level Awards (Rajasthan)

A. Maharana Pratap Award

• Established: 1982 by RSSC
• Prize: ₹2 Lakh, Statue of Maharana Pratap, Commendation Letter, Traditional Costume
• Eligibility: Good performance for the last 3 years at National and International level, best performance in the year of nomination.
• Selection Committee (6 members):
  1. President: CEO of RSSC
  2. Deputy Secretary, Sports Department
  3. Secretary, RSSC
  4. Sports Administrator
  5. Two Arjuna Award Winners (from Rajasthan)
• Notable Winners:
  • First Winner: Dr. Karni Singh
  • Hamida Banu
  • Varsha Soni
  • Laxman Singh
  • Abhilekh Parashar (Gymnastics)
  • Manohar Lal Vishnoi (Cycling)
  • Suman Dhaka
  • Sundar Singh Gurjar

B. Guru Vashisht Award

• Purpose: For Coaches.
• Prize: ₹5 Lakh, Statue of Guru Vashisht, Commendation Letter, Traditional Dress
• Eligibility: Given to coaches who have trained players at National and International level
• Selection Committee (6 members):
  1. President: Sports Minister of the State
  2. CEO of RSSC
  3. Deputy Secretary, Sports Department
  4. Sports Administrator
  5. Two Arjuna Award Winners (from Rajasthan)
• Notable Winners:
  • Pakram Sharma
  • Ramdev Sharma
  • Mahesh Kumar Ranga
  • Ramesh Singh

C. Rajasthan State Khel Ratna Award

• Established: 1994
• Prize: ₹75,000
• First Winner: Limba Ram
• Purpose: Given to Best Performing Player

D. Rising Star Award

• Awarded Since: 2017 by RSSC.
• Purpose: For Junior Players.
• 2017: 41 players were awarded.